Season Four: In Extremis

October - November 2011

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The theme for the fourth season of Mr B’s Book Lovers Unite events was ‘In Extremis’; a season celebrating extreme characters in extreme situations.

The fun kicked off with In Africa Night and a “Cocktail Hour under the Tree-of-Forgetfulness” courtesy of Alexandra Fuller who entertained the book-loving crowd with tales of her mother’s glamorous but very dangerous life in Central Africa.

And then we headed off to sea in the company of Man-Booker-Shortlistee Carol Birch and Charles Jamrach, her animal collecting protagonist. From the Victorian streets of London to raucous adventures on a whaling ship, “Jamrach’s Menagerie” took our team of jolly sailors (i.e. the audience, the B team, Carol and Lucinda’s stuffed parrot!) on a sea-faring voyage to remember.

For the penultimate event in our In Extremis season the Mr B’s Team headed underground to celebrate Andrew Miller’s fantastic novel “Pure” (the book Nic had lovingly described as Sleepy Hollow meets Moulin Rouge)! Since the Mr B’s Underground event took place “Pure” was named the Costa Novel of the Year – big congratulations to Andrew!

The season concluded with Alone Night, where Michelle Paver found herself in the bustling Bibliotherapy room (a rather different predicament to her protagonist Jack Miller who wanders alone in the Arctic) where we raved about “Dark Matter” and other lost souls in literature.

As ever The Bookshop Band were on fantastic form throughout the season, creating another great eight songs that we haven’t stopped singing ever since.